July 21, 2016

Ted Cruz is a lying hypocrite

One of the worst aspects of our modern age is the complete lack of any sense of personal accountability. Once the province of the left, it is now becoming the new hotness among conservatives.

I do not have much invested in Ted Cruz. I was curious about him during the primary and sympathetic to his candidacy, but as Trump started to pull ahead, I found Cruz's overt religiosity off-putting. I consider myself a reasonably devout Christian, but I think it's bad form to go telling everyone about it.

As Trump marched to victory, Cruz - like many of the defeated Republican Establishment - began making noises that they wouldn't endorse the winner because of their principles.

Led by the insular eunuchs at National Review and The Weekly Standard, these career insiders who had spent years selling out conservatives in Washington, suddenly decided that the one thing they could not do was endorse a man they were pledged to support.

To me that is the key element. No one forced Ted Cruz to sign the pledge to endorse the eventual GOP winner. He signed it knowing full well who Donald Trump was and what kind of campaign he would run.

The fact that Trump took cheap shots and hammered opponents without mercy was a given, known by anyone who had a passing knowledge of celebrity culture for the last thirty years. Cruz knew damn well what he was signing.

He didn't care because he figured he would win. So did Jeb and Kasich and the rest - the all hated Trump and figured that under no circumstances would he win, so pledging to endorse the GOP nominee held zero risk to their precious principles.

And then Trump won.

So they broke their solemn pledge.

I see that some Trump-haters are trying to bail Cruz out, by citing Trump's bare-knuckles campaign style (which - to repeat - they knew going into this was his thing) or - hilariously - that Trump himself said he wouldn't be bound by the pledge.

That last one is a real treat. It's like saying you can commit adultery because your spouse did. Er, no. It's still a mortal sin, and if you want to do it to get even or to salve your ego, fine, but don't pretend that it's a matter of deep moral principle that you have a hotel tryst with that intern because your wife got her head turned by someone else.

The only principle in play is Ted Cruz's fragile ego.

Here's the thing: the endorsement doesn't have to be an insincere tongue-bath. All Cruz (or Jeb, or anyone) have to say is this:

When I launched my campaign, I gave my solemn pledge to support whoever won the nomination. I do not agree with the nominee about many things, but a promise given must be kept. I hearby endorse Donald Trump for president.

That's it. Promise fulfilled. Honestly, it would demonstrate real character. What Cruz is doing now is showing that he's a self-obsessed blowhard whose principles are whate3ver he feels they should be in a given moment.